TAURAI MANGUDHLA
Barclays Bank Zimbabwe has rebranded to First Capital Bank following the acquisition of a 43 percent stake by Malawi-headquartered First Merchant Bank. Chief executive Samuel Matsekete said the bank will until October 2020 remain co-branded with Barclays to ensure a seamless transition.
“Our commitment and focus is to effectively partner our customers on their journey to success. Our team in Zimbabwe is working hard to sustain and continue to enhance customer experience across all service points while we strengthen the product and service offering,” Matsekete said at the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange building in Harare.
He said FMB’s banking operations across the region in Malawi, Botswana and Zambia were also rebranding to First Capital Bank while the Mozambican operations still have to meet some regulatory requirements.
The Mozambican operations are expected to be rebranded next year. Barclays became the first financial institution to be listed on ZSE when it debuted on the bourse in 1991.
The institution’s trading symbol on the ZSE effectively changed to FCA.zw. First Capital Bank is owned 42,7 percent by FMB Capital Holdings PLC, 10 percent by Barclays bank PLC, 15 percent by employees through and Employee Share Ownership Trust and 33 percent is widely held by institutional and individual investors.
